Special Projects

Public Infrastructure Needs Inventory (PINI)

Tennessee Advisory Commission for Intergovernmental Relations Infrastructure Survey

The nine Development Districts across Tennessee have joined with the Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations  to identify and report infrastructure needs considered essential to economic growth in the communities and counties of our state.  The Tennessee General Assembly charged the Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations (TACIR) with developing and maintaining an inventory of public infrastructure needs so that state, municipal and county governments can have access to information needed to develop goals, strategies and programs to improve the quality of life of its citizens;  support livable communities; and, enhance and encourage the overall economic development of the state."  (See TCA PC 817)

First Tennessee Development District (FTDD) staff surveys each municipality, county, school district and utility district in the FTDD eight-county region.  The infrastructure need must be a minimum of $50,000 and have a life-span of ten years or more.  Needs identified as maintenance or rolling stock are not recorded.  District staff stress the collection of infrastructure needs rather than a community's wish list. Currently eight reports have been presented to the Tennessee General Assembly presenting information from the inventory.  

TACIR's staff reviews the information for accuracy and works with development district staffs to insure that the data reports are accurately reporting the needs.  TACIR also maintains the database and analyzes the information entered by each district and develops reports.  Each report summarizes key information from the inventory and the estimated costs of the needs reported by the local officials.  These reports are classified statewide by type of need, by current stage of development, and by type of governmental entity responsible for the need.  FTDD has the ability to produce similar reports for the Northeast Tennessee region.

With each update of the database, the information becomes a more reliable resource to identify infrastructure needs in our region.  Recently, the database served as a ready resource to identify "shovel-ready" projects which would qualify for American Recovery Act funding.

For more information on PINI see: http://www.state.tn.us.tacir/infrastructure
Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations
226 Capitol Boulevard, Suite 508
Nashville, Tennessee 37243
TACIR Public Infrastructure Needs Inventory Contacts:
Catherine Corley, Senior Research Associate
615.253.4240 (office)
615.532.2443 (fax)
Janet Steen: Information System Manager

Tourism

Northeast Tennessee Tourism Association

First Tennessee Development District provides leadership on the Board of Trustees for the Northeast Tennessee Tourism Association (NETTA) www.netta.com, a non-profit tourism promotional agency whose mission is to serve as a catalyst to enhance regional economic and community growth through the support, promotion and development of tourism.  NETTA was chartered in 1977 and supports the same region served by FTDD: Carter, Greene, Hancock, Hawkins, Johnson, Sullivan, Unicoi, and Washington counties. NETTA also serves as one of eight statewide regional tourism organizations recognized by the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development. FTDD also serves as liaison for Hancock and Johnson Counties on the NETTA board.

For further information on tourism promotion in Northeast Tennessee contact:
Claudia Moody, CTTP
Chief Executive Officer
Northeast Tennessee Tourism Association
P.O. Box 415
Jonesborough, TN  37659
(423) 913-5550 (office)
(800) 468-6882 (outside TN)
(423) 913-5555 (fax)
tourism@netta.com

Human Resources

Northeast Tennessee Workforce Investment Board

The Alliance for Business & Training, Inc (AB&T) www.ab-t.org is a community-based not for profit corporation based in Elizabethton, Tennessee. Its mission is to create and sustain a workforce development system which promotes Economic Development; meets employer needs; and, is responsive to the changing labor market demands, community economic growth and workers' job skills.

AB&T has provided services to the residents and employers of Northeast Tennessee since 1984. It was designated in 1999 as the Administrative Entity and staff to the Northeast Tennessee Workforce Investment Board. Through partnerships with the Northeast Tennessee Department of Labor Career Center System, AB&T has provided employment and training services to residents of the Tennessee counties of Sullivan, Washington, Carter, Johnson and Unicoi. These training and career development activities are designed to meet the skill needs of the 21st Century work environment which demands creative and innovative solutions by trained and talented Tennesseans in order to compete in today's world economy.

Susan Reid, First Tennessee Development District Executive Director, serves as secretary to the Workforce Investment Board and the FTDD Special Projects Director serves on the WIB Youth Council. The Council successfully reaches out-of-school and in-school youth through various programs aimed at placing them into full-time employment positions or to provide in-school youth opportunities to gain basic skills and continue into advanced training. When the Workforce Investment Act YouthBuild Program is funded, FTDD staff  provide leadership skills training for program participants.

For further information on the Alliance for Business and Training programs and projects contact:

Kathy J. Pierce
Executive Director
Alliance for Business and Training
Northeast Tennessee Workforce Investment Board
P. O. Box 249
386 Highway 91 North
Elizabethton, Tennessee  37644
kpierce@ab-t.org
423.547.7515 ext. 126 (office)
423.547.7522 (fax)
423.895.1105 (cell)

Regional Collaboration

Appalachian Sustainable Development

Appalachian Sustainable Development (ASD), was founded in 1995 in Southwest Virginia and Northeast Tennessee as a non-profit entity to educate, advocate and share lessons learned regarding sustainable development locally,  regionally and nationally to advance local and regional food systems development; land, water and forest conservation; green building; reduce, reuse and recycling practices and to connect farmers, forest landowners, and those who make food and forest products with markets and other resources in our region.  ASD seeks to educate children, communities, farmers, forest landowners and others on nutrition, childhood obesity, low impact farming and forestry practices, local foods and other subjects related to making our citizens capable of being self-sustaining.  ASD’s programs include: Appalachian Farmers Market Association, Appalachian Harvest, Learning Landscapes, Healthy Families-Family Farms and GRO/Sustainable Forestry.

First Tennessee Development District staff serve on the ASD Board of Directors along with staff from LENOWISCO and Cumberland Plateau Planning Districts.

For further information about ASD, contact:
Kathlyn Terry, Executive Director
121 Russell Road
P.O. Box 791
Abingdon, VA  24212
276-623-1121
asd@asdevelop.org
www.asdevelop.org

Tennessee Valley Corridor

The Tennessee Valley Corridor, Inc., is a non-profit 501(c)(6) regional economic development organization, led by a blue-ribbon board of directors, dedicated to uniting partners from across the region to:

1. support and expand federal and state missions and investments in the Corridor;
2. to leverage the Corridor's growing science and technology assets for maximum new job creation and next generation manufacturing in the region; and
3. to promote the Tennessee Valley Corridor as one of the premier science and technology regions in the nation.

First Tennessee Development District participates in the annual economic summits which focus on how the Tennessee Valley can work together to leverage regional assets and capabilities in various technology fields. Progress reports on Corridor initiatives are presented and collaborative efforts are explored and developed. The TVC provides opportunities to identify common issues,  a widening of the network of contacts, identifies areas where we can work together and continues to fulfill the District’s mission to provide regional progress through regional cooperation. Susan Reid, FTDD Executive Director, serves as the First District Congressional representative on the Board of Director of the Tennessee Valley Corridor.

For further information:

Tennessee Valley Corridor
173 Mitchell Road
Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830
865-483-8850 (phone)
865-483-8851 (fax)
Info@Tennvalleycorridor.Org
http://tennvalleycorridor.org

Three-Star Certification/Re-certification

First Tennessee Development District's involvement with regional leadership development places its staff in a position to serve our communities' efforts to become Three-Star Certified.  A pre-requisite to applying for the Three-Star certification centers around a community’s successful development of an annual strategic plan to guide the work of the community.  The District staff provide facilitation of the planning process and work directly with communities as requested to complete the Three-Star process.

Matt Garland, the Regional Economic Development Specialist for the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development can provide information regarding the Three-Star Program in the FTDD region.

Matt Garland
Regional Economic Development Specialist
Tennessee Dept. of Economic and Community Development
3211 North Roan Street
Johnson City, TN 37601
423-571-3848 (cell)
423-434-4214 (office)
423-434-6482 (fax)
Matthew.Garland@tn.gov
http://www.tn.gov/ecd/

Leadership and Civic Development

Community Leadership Programs

First Tennessee Development District (FTDD) participated in an Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) initiative to increase the leadership capacity in each county served by ARC in Northeast Tennessee.  At the time of this initiative, Sullivan County (Kingsport & Bristol) and Washington County (Johnson City) had well-established community leadership programs.  The staff of these established programs, FTDD staff, and, ARC staff directed workshops providing assistance to  help the remaining six counties to the establish ongoing, self-sustaining community leadership programs.  District staff, certified in Community Trusteeship Leadership Development, 21-Century Leadership Skills, and LeadershipPlenty, continue to provide technical assistance to the Northeast Tennessee leadership programs.

The goal of community leadership programs is to ensure that communities have capable leaders now and into the future; to enhance and further develop the skills of the current and emerging leaders.  First Tennessee Development District provides technical assistance to the leadership programs serving the eight Northeast Tennessee counties in the form of program day facilitation and curriculum development.  Adult leadership programs are recognized by the State of Tennessee as an integral segment of community development.  The value of leadership development is further recognized through the fact that counties and municipalities cannot apply for Tennessee's Three-Star Certification if the pre-requisite leadership development program is not in place.

FTDD also serves as the liaison for the Tri-Cities Tennessee/Virginia Regional Leadership Council.  The main purpose of the Council is to organize, plan and implement the annual Tri-Cities TN/VA Regional Leadership Day where the current year's leadership program participants come together to develop an extended network of business associates and receive continuing leadership skills training. 

Tennessee Association of Community Leadership (TACL) www.leadershiptennessee.com is the state-wide association of the Tennessee's leadership programs.  TACL's mission is to enhance the ability of community leadership programs to develop a pool of diverse, skilled and inspired community leaders.  This mission is partly accomplished through the annual TACL conference which offers statewide networking and program improvement ideas.  Regional leadership workshops in the three grand divisions of Tennessee provide additional opportunities to improve programs. 

For further information about the Tri-Cities TN/VA region's community leadership programs:

Regional Councils

Technical Assistance

The District provides technical assistance to Northeast State Community College's United Way Non-Profit Certification Program, the Hancock County Chamber of Commerce's Partners, Southern Growth Policy Board Community Forum, the Northeast TN Council on Children and the Youth Legislative Committee.   Staff members work with ConnectedTN in an effort to identify needs and get our communities needed communication technology and assist in other community efforts to provide continuing education opportunities in our region.